


a little bit stronger

by komet



Series: sad setauket kids [1]
Category: Turn (TV 2014)
Genre: Sort of a fix-it, and I know it wont happen this way at all but i needed something to get me through the new episode, there's nothing romantic unless you squint real hard, they're just supporting each other but you can take it in any way you want
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-25
Updated: 2017-06-25
Packaged: 2018-11-18 18:42:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,626
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11296530
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/komet/pseuds/komet
Summary: "and i wish, i wish i knew the right wordsto make you feel better, walk out of this place,defeat them in your secret battle"orben is breaking, caleb might just be broken, abe is in a whole different world, and anna wants to be able to take their burdens.





	a little bit stronger

**Author's Note:**

> didn't have anyone to beta this, my apologies !
> 
> thanks to the whitlams for the lines in the summary.
> 
> **oh and the title comes from "you suck charlie" by joji

Anna's head has been all but spinning ever since Ben told her that Arnold had Caleb. By God, is she nervous. She knows that Arnold is the new 'Spyhunter General' (a laughable title) and also that the man is undoubtedly still on thin ice, so he wouldn't dare carry through with any misconduct whilst dealing with a rebel officer. He wouldn't dare, if he knew what was good for him. The man is a coward, she reminds herself, he would not overstep his boundaries again. Clinton could demote him, or, if he made a grevious enough error, hand him over to Washington, which would essentially be throwing him to the wolves. 

So Caleb will be fine. He'll come out with that same amused sparkle in his eyes and he would not have given Arnold anything at all. Because Caleb is just like that— he can come out of anything and he will be okay. That's how it's always been, ever since they were kids; for instance, Anna remembers once when Caleb had poked at a beehive with a stick and earned himself a frightfully swollen arm, but he hadn't even cried, (she recalls with a flicker of amusement that Abe almost had, for reasons unknown) he had just joked about how mad his father would be. 

And so she calms her whirlwind thoughts, wards off the oncoming torrent of worry. 

Ben has been handling the whole thing with an almost entirely opaque manner of calm, but Anna knows that this is killing him. She can tell. Maybe no one else can, maybe anybody else would tell her that she's seeing something that is not there, but she knows that this is tearing at Ben in a way he's never known before. She's already tried to talk to him, but he'd just told her that he's taking care of it, that he had a plan that would be set in to action very soon. Anna had left it at that; she isn't Caleb, she can't get Ben to listen the way that he can. The major won't ever let on that he's breaking, and maybe he's still goading himself into believing that he isn't. There's nothing she can do about it, so she will not try again. 

They are going to get Caleb back, he will be okay and they'll make sure nothing like this ever happens again to anybody in the Ring. That statement becomes something of a mantra, parading stubbornly around her mind as the shadows of doubt reach imposingly for a stronger grip. 

-=+=-

Anxiety blooms in her stomach, spreading like a virus and clawing its way up to her chest as she waits. Waits for Ben to return with Caleb, the harsh tension lifted from the former's shoulders and the latter unharmed. She tends to her cart distractedly, looking up often to check for their arrival. At times other thoughts and concerns are able to replace the most pressing one, but now she's sure that they're taking too long. What could have gone wrong? A lot of things, her mind supplies, but she ignores it.

Brown eyes snap to the sight of Ben rushing toward Caleb's tent with the man in tow. With a flash of confusion, she sees Abe following. Anna only catches a glimpse of the lot of them, but she can see that Caleb needs heavy support to walk, Abe's got a hat on and his head is down far enough so that she can't see his face, and then the brief look that Ben gives her. 

Her heartbeat speeds up until it's pounding in her ears as she sets down the pot in her hand and heads quickly for the tent. 

Her heart drops and she freezes. 

Abe's already down on a cot, facing the wall silently. He's tense, definitely not asleep. Ben's helping Caleb down onto a cot, and the major meets her eyes again, but only just barely. Caleb's got a deep cut on his face and one eye is badly swollen, and she can see the beginnings of a nasty gash on his chest. 

'Shock' is the only word that could begin to describe her expression. 

"What– what happened?" She asks, looking at Abraham for another moment before staring at Ben. "Why is Abe here? What have they done to Caleb?" Ben looks like he might answer, but Caleb speaks up.

"Hey, Annie," she hears Caleb greet quietly, sounding tired and maybe a touch delirious. She meets his eyes and she swears she can hear her own heart breaking. Ben's gaze has dropped to the ground now, guilt in his expression as Anna waits for his answer. Though she does not wait to check on Brewster, hurrying forward and dropping down beside him. Ben is quick to back up as needed. 

"Caleb," she says softly, and she didn't realize that she was in tears until her vision is entirely blurred. He reaches for her hand and instead she takes his in both of hers.

"No need for that. I'm okay." He says, giving her a smile that doesn't take away from how indescribably sad he looks. There is no sparkle in his eyes, no cheerfulness in his tone. 

And Anna breaks, a sob wrenching itself from her throat as tears streamed freely down her face. 

"Ah, Annie.." Caleb murmurs, that look of sad sympathy softening even further as he reaches to gently wipe at the corner of her eye with his thumb. 

"I'm sorry," she says with a voice that is shaking and thick with tears, giving a slight, wet cough as she wipes at her eyes. She forces herself to get her head on right, forces herself to be just a little bit stronger. "Sorry." She repeats, voice steadier. She looks up at Ben now, who's looking anywhere but at them. Caleb sees it too. There are tears in Ben's eyes but he's acting like there aren't, shoulders squared as he fidgets with the hilt of his sword. 

"Ben." Anna says in a quiet voice, and he visibly swallows, looking at the ground next to her before meeting her gaze. 

"Abe was part of the plan. We set up a prisoner exchange.. I would have done something faster if I'd known.." Ben gestures loosely and apparently doesn't find the right words because he doesn't continue, but she knows what he's referring to.

"Ben, it ain't your fault," Caleb says, apparently recognizing the same thing, and Ben meets his eyes for only a moment before he's looking away again and Anna recognizes that expression; he's trying not to cry.

All the while, Abe stays silent and unmoving.

"What's happened to him?" Anna asks, tipping her head toward Abraham. 

"The exchange experienced some difficulties. We were fired upon and.. Judge Woodhull did not make it out of the encounter." Ben's voice quiets considerably there. 

Anna's mouth opens slightly in surprise, looking over at Abraham. He hasn't moved at all. He doesn't look like he's been listening. She seems like she might say something else, but Ben shakes his head with a glance at Abe. He wants Abraham to know how sorry he is, wants Caleb to know it too, but Anna's sure that he doesn't know what he can say. She knows this side of Ben well; easy to read, if you know what to look for. 

But they're all suffering silently.

Caleb gives her a look and Anna understands immediately, brushing a hand against his shoulder before standing. She's hesitant to leave him. He nods and she gives a tiny smile, looking over at Abe before stepping out. 

And if she sees Ben wipe at his eyes, she doesn't say anything. 

-=+=-

When she enters the tent again, it's late. Caleb's asleep and Ben's nodded off in a chair right next to him, but he's holding his hand firmly. He looks like he had cried, but he still appears at ease regardless. She looks to Abraham, and he's shifted to lay on his back now, but he's still not moving and he's just staring up at the ceiling. Anna walks silently over to him, delicately perching on the edge of the cot. He hardly even blinks when the cot dips. But she doesn't speak, just watches the way Ben occasionally squeezes Caleb's hand as he dozes, like he wants to make sure he's still with him. 

Anna's gaze flickers back over to Abe when he finally speaks. 

"You ever think about everything you can't change?" Abe asks quietly, voice nearly inaudible. 

Anna takes a moment before she responds. "Yes," she nods. 

Abraham gives a ghost of a nod in return, so subtle that she isn't sure if he even nodded at all. "Watching my father take that bullet.. I felt like I wasn't there. Like I was just.. spectating from somewhere far away." He says after another few beats of silence. "And now I think, what if I'd just been in front of him? Or if I'd told him to get down. I could've done a lot of things. But I didn't." He says, nodding noticeably this time. "I didn't." He finishes quietly. 

Anna doesn't answer, because she knows there's nothing to say that will help. She sets her hand lightly on his face, smoothing her thumb over his cheekbone and their eyes meet. Something that doesn't need to be spoken aloud passes between them and Anna's hand moves to instead rest on top of Abe's, still passing over his skin gently. Not imposing, but still a reminder that she's there. 

And with Ben and Caleb resting, Anna silently but surely soothing the voices prowling Abe's head, and something as close to peace as they've all had in a long while, Abraham closes his eyes, and he sleeps.


End file.
